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Explaining the relation between IQ and delinquency: class, race, test motivation, school failure, or self-control?
D Lynam1, T Moffitt, M Stouthamer-Loeber
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
|May 1, 1993
Summary
Low intelligence (IQ) predicts future delinquency in adolescent boys, not the reverse. This IQ-delinquency link remains significant even when controlling for race, class, and motivation, with school performance mediating the effect for Black youth.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- A well-established inverse relationship exists between intelligence quotient (IQ) and delinquency.
- The causal direction of this relationship has remained a subject of debate and empirical investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To empirically examine differing explanatory accounts of the IQ-delinquency relationship.
- To determine the direction of effect between IQ and delinquency in adolescent males.
Main Methods:
- Utilized longitudinal data from a high-risk study involving 13-year-old boys.
- Statistically controlled for covariates including race, socioeconomic class, and observed test motivation.
Main Results:
- Findings did not support accounts of a spurious relationship or delinquency leading to lower IQ.
- Results strongly supported the hypothesis that lower IQ precedes and predicts delinquency.
- The IQ-delinquency association remained robust after statistical controls.
- School performance mediated the effect of IQ on delinquency for Black youth, but not for White youth.
Conclusions:
- The causal direction of the IQ-delinquency relationship is from lower IQ to increased delinquency.
- This relationship is independent of race, class, and motivation, highlighting a significant cognitive risk factor for delinquency.
- The mediating role of school performance suggests differential pathways for Black and White youth.